


As We Always Were

by smarmsi



Series: Old EXO Drabbles From Tumblr [4]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Female Kim Jongdae | Chen, Female Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Gen, MAMA Era Powers, Mutant Powers, Sister-Sister Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 22:48:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11323323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smarmsi/pseuds/smarmsi
Summary: Jundae gets a lesson in storm-making from her sister.





	As We Always Were

“Not like that,” the voice calls over the rolling thunder. “You’re still too wild.” Jundae sighs and slaps her hands together, collapsing the storm around her. She turns to glare at her sister, who’s relaxing beneath an umbrella, tucked away beneath a tree near the path Jundae stands on.

“I don’t think you quite understand, Minseo. I’m literally chaos personified. Give me a break.” The older girl clicks her tongue at Jundae’s attitude.

“You’re also _literally_ too wild. Your storms are unstable. You’re not chaotic, you’re sloppy.” Jundae rolls her eyes.

“What do you want me to do? Pay attention to every single electron that gathers?” She opens her palms again to let lightning crawl over her fingers, tickling her.

“Yes,” Minseo stresses, then heaves a deep sigh. “Watch.” She closes the umbrella and flutters a hand. Immediately, the temperature drops. “See how I set it up? I don’t immediately start dropping snowflakes. The moisture in the air needs to be perfect. Too little and it doesn’t snow, too much and it turns to sleet.” Jundae watches carefully, in spite of her annoyance. It’s always amazing to watch Minseo work, even when she’s just showing off. “See how I let the clouds gather? You can’t rush into it. Half of the excitement, especially for thunderstorms, come from the anticipation.” The sky is darkening ever-so-slowly, something almost electric in the air, and Jundae thinks maybe Minseo has a point.

The pressure builds as Minseo slowly increases the moisture content, and Jundae shivers, just a little. She may be Minseo’s sister, but that doesn’t mean she can’t feel cold. A sudden weight settles over her shoulders, and Jundae looks down to see a cloak of frost draped over her. Leaf-like patterns swirl in the crystalline ice, courtesy of Minseo. Jundae grins. Contrary to what seems like common sense, Minseo’s frost capes are incredibly cozy to wear. Jundae remembers being very little and begging her older sister to decorate hers with all sorts of crazy designs.

“Pay attention, Jundae,” Minseo reminds. “Now that the environment is perfect, I can let the snow fall.” And this is Jundae’s favorite part. The intricacy of each snowflake is testament to Minseo’s absolute devotion to her task, and the mix of concentration and love painted on her face makes her look ethereal. Jundae can see why so many adore her. Minseo doesn’t stand still as the white flakes begin to fall. She walks—dances—through them, fingers playing a melody in the breeze. Each piece of snow is its own masterpiece, unique in its form, and Jundae thinks—a little despairingly—that she’ll never be this sophisticated, this detailed. 

Her medium is energy in its purest form, snapping its jaws like an angry beast and playing where it wants. She can’t control it, any more than she can control herself. Not like Minseo can control her medium. Snow is tranquil, just like Minseo. Lightning is wild, chaotic, and it always snatches Jundae up in its frenetic dance. She tells Minseo just as much.

“You think snow is tranquil?” Minseo asks, voice quiet. Jundae quirks her head. Did she upset her? “I don’t think it is at all. Watch.” She flicks her hand out, and the wind picks up. “I’d sit down if I were you.” Jundae plops down instinctually. Snow begins to fall faster, heavier, and the wind is starting to howl through the trees. Clouds gather, darkening the sky, and a little bit of alarm sparks in Jundae. She’s never seen Minseo do this. 

The temperature drops lower, and suddenly all Jundae can see is white, everywhere. There’s nothing but snow, and pure fear shoots up Jundae’s spine. Where is Minseo? Jundae can’t even see two feet in front of her. The wind whips white streaks past her, tossing them around until Jundae can’t tell up from down. She can barely breathe and she’s clutching the frost cloak tight, trying to find an anchor.

But then there are warm hands cupping her face and she looks up to see Minseo, who’s absolutely _shining_ with joy. She lays a finger to smiling lips and winks at Jundae before grabbing her hand and pulling her up. _Listen,_ she mouths, and Jundae does.

At first, all she hears is the wind howling viciously. She frowns at Minseo, but her sister just takes her other hand and they stand together, in the middle of the storm, grounding each other. And Jundae listens. 

She can hear the wind, of course, but she can also hear the trees, and below the sound of snow whipping by, there’s a sort of…hum. A low, barely-there rumble, like the sound of Kyungsoon’s earthquakes or the beat of a thousand drums. Jundae lets it sooth over her, calm her down. It travels down her spine, through her arms, and Jundae realizes it’s coming from Minseo. Minseo is humming, almost singing, wordless, and it arcs up with the wind and plays among the snowflakes before coming back, an endless circle. The storm dances around them, around Minseo, and Jundae is awe-struck.

They stand for what seems like hours before Minseo finally stops humming, and a pressure Jundae hadn’t noticed is lifted off of the world. The wind slows, the snow lightens, and the clouds dissipate. In just a few seconds, the blizzard is gone.

“How—How did you do that?” Jundae asks. Minseo smiles at her incredulity.

“I focused,” she answers simply. Jundae whines at her.

“Seriously, how did you do that? I want to do that!”

Minseo laughs and releases Jundae. “You have to balance yourself. Your storms are a manifestation of your soul, so in order to create stable storms you have to center yourself.”

“Are you saying I have a sloppy soul?!” Jundae cries, choosing to be offended by the implication. Minseo just laughs again.

“That’s one way of putting it. You just aren’t connecting with yourself. There’s lots of ways to do it; I meditate, Sehun dances. You have to find some way to be absolutely present in your body, and then just let the storm flow from that.” With that, Minseo walks away to collect her umbrella, leaving Jundae to her thoughts.

_Absolutely present…_

“Come on, Jundae, we’ll be late for lunch!” Minseo calls. She’s already walking away, weaving her way through the snow drifts. Jundae runs to catch up. “Look at all this mess,” Minseo gestures to everything around them, snapped trees and piles of snow. “It’s why I don’t do it often. I’ll have to ask Lu Han to clean up, I suppose.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’d clean up for you,” Jundae smirks, and Minseo flushes bright red, flicking snowflakes at her laughing sister.

**Author's Note:**

> cross-posted to tumblr here: http://smarmsi.tumblr.com/post/137579255966/as-we-always-were


End file.
